Police arrested John Kurtz after they said he interrupted a domestic-violence investigation and later shoved a police officer.

January 2, 2011|By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

A man police described as a member of an Orlando-based police watchdog group was among 19 people arrested during this year's New Year's Eve festivities in downtown Orlando, police said.

Police arrested John Kurtz, whose full name is Johannes Michael Germann-Kurtz, after they said he interrupted a domestic violence investigation and later shoved a police officer.

Police describe Kurtz, 27, as the founder of a police watchdog group he calls Orlando Copwatch.

There are two police watchdog groups in Orlando that use the Copwatch name. Kurtz's group is a locally founded organization that reports on alleged police abuses on its website.

The other Copwatch group in Orlando is associated with the national Copwatch network of volunteer brigades founded in Berkeley, Calif., more than a decade ago. The organizations have similar missions but use different tactics to check local law enforcement.

Officers investigating a domestic violence incident about 1:35 a.m. Saturday on Church Street said Kurtz approached them with a video camera. As they were trying to control a resisting suspect, police said Kurtz got their attention and told one of officers to "calm down because he was on camera."

According to arresting documents, one of the officers told Kurtz to back up. Police said he ignored the command and later shoved the officer in the chest. The officer tried to arrest Kurtz, police said, but he resisted.

The officer then used a takedown maneuver, handcuffing the still-resisting man on the ground, according to an arrest report. Police said a rowdy crowd began to gather, and the officers called in backup for their protection.

Kurtz was charged with battery on law enforcement officer, resisting an officer without violence and obstructing or opposing a police officer.

Kurtz was already out on bail in connection with an arrest in November. Police charged Kurtz on Nov. 9 with disorderly conduct after they said he simulated sexual acts on an Orlando police car on Church Street.

He remained in Orange County Jail late Saturday. Though police said in their report that Kurtz was filming the altercation, Copwatch had not yet posted it on its website or YouTube page late Saturday.